


The Designers

by RainbowArches



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Beer, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-07 00:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3153206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowArches/pseuds/RainbowArches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma and Akela play a game of reorganizing Shield.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Designers

Things were finally beginning to settle down for everyone. Shield was semi-re-established as a legitimate peace-keeping organization; Hydra was more or less beheaded; the team had grown into a solid, trustworthy system. They had reached the point where they could rest in between missions instead of spending all-nighters trying to cover their tracks before they attracted too much attention. Five of them were borrowing Jemma’s parents’ house for the night. All they’d done was eat and lounge, but it looked like the tail end of a party with all the garbage strewn around. Jemma posted a note on the fridge earlier that evening, reminding her to clean up and restock the fridge before leaving.

They were probably taking this too seriously. What started as a game six beers ago was now a blueprint for the future of Shield. Pizza boxes and beer cans were elbowed aside so that they could lean into each other’s space and grab the pen out of each other’s hands, crossing out ideas and scribbling in their own suggestions before they could be shot down. They were the only ones in the kitchen- May, Skye and Bobbie were in the living room. Not that Jemma and Akela noticed; they were loud and messy enough for the five of them.

“We should be co-directors.”

That wasn’t what started the conversation, but it was what prompted the seriousness with which this game was now being treated. That and the beer. It seemed like a good idea when Akela mentioned it, the result of a segue from the succession of Shield directors. Wouldn’t it be easier if two people carried the weight? They decided a co-directorship would clash with the paranoia both would inevitably develop, and neither wanted to be the director alone. Might as well have one insanely paranoid director and an anal retentively sane deputy. Neither of them wanted to be the director or the deputy after that.

“May should be the director.”

“Really? You don’t think she’s too… well adjusted?”

“She certainly plays it well. I just thought it would be interesting if the director was sane and the deputy was paranoid.”

“Who should be the deputy?”

“Victoria Hand. She’s brilliant.”

And then it got a little out of hand, because they had to figure out what leading positions they could take on. They could each have their own team; one of scientists and one of field agents. But who would be on each team? They had a hard time trying to fit their teammates’ skill sets into one category or another, which was usually a good thing, but not for the purposes of this list.

“No, you can’t have Bobbi,” Jemma said, knocking over some empty beer cans onto the floor as she leaned over to see who Akela added to her list.

“Why not?”

“I need her for my science team.”

“But she’s a field agent.”

“She’s also a scientist.”

“You already have four! I only have three!”

“We can share her.”

“No, that’s against the rules. Let me have Bobbi and we’ll be even.”

“But what if I need her?”

“You have four other capable scientists. Field work is way more unpredictable. I’m going to need her more than you.”

They put those agents aside for the moment, in a separate list labeled The Avengers (because the beer made them think that was clever and hilarious) until they figured out how to split them. In the meantime they used some wishful thinking to even out their lists and make a reasonably sized team for each of them.

“Jane Foster? Really? You think that’s going to happen?”

“You don’t even know where Sharon Carter is.”

“I still got a better chance of picking her up, though.”

“You said that with such suggestion. Did you mean what I think you meant? What game are we playing?”

They ended up with a full-sized Avengers team and decided to keep it. Members could alternate between teams depending on which skill set was most needed. That was easier than trying to divide them fairly, plus if they were rearranging Shield they might as well build their own response team. The nice thing about the Avengers they ended up with was that most of them knew each other and made friends easily. Hopefully that meant they would respond before Coulson tried to take things into his own hands again.

They were just discussing whether they wanted to call them The Avengers when Skye walked in. “We’re going to watch a movie. Any suggestions?”

“We’re busy.”

“Watcha doing?”

“Taking over. We just have to make our teams bigger.”

“Which team am I on?”

“You’re an Avenger.”

“Really? Sweet!” She started dancing around the kitchen, grabbing the last beer from the fridge. “ _I’m an Aveeenger! I’m an Aveeenger!”_

“Maybe we should keep the name,” said Akela when Skye left.

 

May slept in a bit, but that was okay. Jemma had given her her parent’s bed as a sort of matriarchal right. It had an en-suite bathroom. Luxury was always easier to enjoy when there was no mission. She finished her morning routine and went downstairs to make breakfast.

Jemma and Akela were asleep at the table. She pulled the notepad out from under Akela’s arms to see what they’d been so excited about last night.

 

Director                                                Deputy                                                 WSC

Melinda May                                     Victoria Hand                                     Maria Hill

Jemma’s Team                                                  Akela’s Team

Leo Fitz                                                                 Jasper Sitwell

Benjamin Pollack                                              Sharon Carter

Jane Foster                                                         Izzy Hartley

Betty Ross                                                           Agent 33

The Avengers                                    Handler

Skye                                                      Claire Weiss

Antoine Triplett

Bobbi Morse

Alphonso Mackenzie

Raina

Mike Peterson

 

The girls shifted and started to wake up. Akela stretched while Jemma scrubbed at her face with her hands. May moved to lean against the fridge so they could see what she was reading. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” said Jemma. Her eyes fell on the paper. “Oh. That’s just…”

“You’re missing a few people.”

“Yes, well it was getting tricky.”

“And some of this seems like wishful thinking.”

“It was a game, mostly,” said Akela.

“Mostly,” May repeated. She was smirking at them. “So you’re not actually trying to overthrow the Director or anything?”

“No,” said Jemma.

“That’s barely even a backup plan,” Akela said.

May nodded. “I see.” She scanned the page a couple more times. “Can I keep this?”

Jemma’s brow furrowed in surprise. “Um… why?”

May shrugged. “I just don’t want it to be thrown out. It seems like the sort of thing we should save.”

“What, like, just in case?” Akela asked. “You’re not planning to overthrow the director, are you?”

May laughed. “No. But you should always have a ‘just in case’.”

“Oh. Okay. You can keep it. Just remember we were drunk when we wrote that.”

“Thank you.” May went to go find her purse. “If you want coffee you’ll have to make it yourself.”

She left and Jemma and Akela stared at each other.

“Are we going to be responsible for Shield mark 3?”


End file.
